Taking the virtual and making it a reality, Ryan Mets and Chris Greben created Boardcave.com to help surfers customize their ride and connect them with the right manufacturers for their gear.
Mets and Greben know that finding the right surfboard online is not an easy task especially for surfers who like their rides to be as unique as they are.
So these two surfers, who were working as professionals in the tech industry at the time, came together to create a site that solves the problems surfers face when trying to find their ideal products online.
“We wanted to utilize technology to make it easier for surfers to find and buy the best products for their surfing ability,” Mets explained.
Boardcave.com features patented technology that profiles a surfer’s age, height, weight skill and fitness level to give them the best surfboard suggestions based on the board’s size and shape.
Mets and Greben call this revved-up search tool the Board Engine, and they are constantly fine-tuning it for a better, more unique user experience.
“This has never been done before, customers can browse reviews from surfers with their similar user profiles to find the best board models and sizes from the world’s leading shapers, ” Mets said about his and Greben’s technology.
The innovative site made its debut on November 1, 2012 and was the winner of the 2013 Australian StartupSmart Award, which honors emerging companies for its smart business plans.
As their start-up business continues to grow internationally with operations in the US, Australia and Brazil, Mets and Greben still manage to keep Boardcave.com focused on its sole purpose: helping surfers.
“It’s one thing to have a great looking website but another to have one that actually gets sales and helps the customer,” Mets explained.
The success behind Boardcave.com is Mets and Greben’s own Cavewire software, which not only serves surfers worldwide, but is also starting to benefit manufactures as well.
Mets explained that surfboard manufacturers use Cavewire to manage their production, wholesale ordering, e-commerce and more. Mets and Greben both believe that surf shops play a crucial role in the Boardcave.com experience and they are working to incorporate their software with surf retailers.
Looking to the future of Boardcave.com, the co-founders plane to release Board Engine 1.0, which will include new features that will help surfers find and locate some of the best surf products the world has to offer.
Mets and Greben seem to be doing the impossible as they help surfers navigate the rough waters of the Internet to give them a great ride in real life.
“We don’t see ourselves solely as an online platform, we are working to bridge the disconnect between online and offline,” Mets said.
As Boardcave.com continues to grow and evolve, surfers can look forward to more personalized products and a lot less online hassle.
Check out this video to see how to order a board using Boardcave.com.
How It Works from Boardcave on Vimeo.
